Indiana Man Hid Casino Winnings to Avoid Paying Child Support

A man from Indiana could land in prison for trying to hide his casino winnings and avoid paying back child support. The player, Lance Halderman, tried to collect his winnings via another person to avoid having the sum seized.

According to reports, the 44-year-old had previously had his winnings seized for back child support. This happened in June 2023 when his child support balance stood at over $2,200.

For context, local law allows authorities to garnish gambling winnings and other revenue from parents who are falling behind schedule in terms of child support. Once a garnishment order has been issued by a country’s prosecutor’s office or a court, it would appear during an ID check.

Halderman learned from his past experience and decided to try and hide his latest winnings. After winning over $2,000 on a slot machine at the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, the man asked another person to collect his winnings on his behalf to avoid having his ID scanned. In return, Halerman agreed to pay his accomplice $100 for the trouble in addition to covering the taxes on the income.

However, Halderman’s fraud was eventually discovered. The man is now charged with Level 6 felony cheating at gaming at La Porte Superior Court 4 and faces up to 30 months in prison.

Halderman’s accomplice, on the other hand, avoided charges after admitting that he was unaware of the illegality of the arrangement. The other man claimed that he was just trying to help someone in need.

Man Could Lose His Chance for Office Because of Felony

Speaking of gambling-related felonies, an Indiana man risks losing his shot at becoming Vigo County’s new treasurer because of a past gambling offense. Billy Joy of Terre Haute hopes to become Vigo County’s next treasurer but may turn out to be ineligible for the position because of his past involvement in illegal poker.

While Joy believes that he was just “playing cards with a bunch of his buddies,” and didn’t do anything illegal, he acknowledged the fact that the incident could spell the end of his bid for office. According to him, if the legal system tells him to take his name off, then “that’s the way it will have to be.”